These are two American hornpipes from Coles 1001 Fiddle Tunes (originally Ryan's Mammouth Collection published in the 1880s). At the time they were recorded, Angus had a radio program in Sydney, Cape Breton, which went on for several years. Those were the times that he was playing for hundreds of Cape Breton dances, often travelling through blizzards that would have discouraged anyone less dedicated.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
Angus' unique, highly influential style, distinguished for its gaiety and lightness, shines on this track made during his second recording session which too place in Montreal shortly after his first session. Angus went up there with A.A. Gillis and Dan J. Campbell, well known Inverness County, Cape Breton fiddlers. The jigs are "Thompson's" and "Light and Airy."
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
Both tunes are in Coles. Fred Wilson's was a popular tune around Margaree (Angus was born in Margaree Forks). This track was recorded in Boston (Roxbury), where Angus also played regularly on the radio. He also played for dances at O'Connell Hall, solo and with Alec Gillis and the Inverness Serenaders.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
The first tune is a strathspey, a form of reel originating in the area near the Spey river in Scotland. Strathspeys are the most distinctively fiddle music in Scotland and are highly regarded there, and in Cape Breton, for their beauty, both in listening and stepdancing. The second and third tunes are reels that can be found in Scott Skinner's Scottish Violinist.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
The inclusion of tunes from Irish sources shows Angus' wide knowledge of related styles and tunes. The second and third tunes are Cape Breton Reels.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
This track was recorded at Angus's first session which too place at Roxbury. Angus does not remember hearing anyone play Rothermurches Rant and he learned it from the music. Both this and the second tune are in the Kerr's violin collection.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
This beautiful, utterly unforgettable performance was recorded in Montreal. The first two tunes are Scots pieces. Both Angus' parents were Gaelic speakers. He remembers his mother singing a song in Gaelic to the tune of Bird's Nest, and he learned the tune from her.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
A grand performance! Miss Lyall was and is quite popular in Scotland and has been more often recorded there. My Brother's Letter is in the MacQuarrie Collection of Cape Breton violin music, and was composed by Vincent MacLellan.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
Angus remembers that he and Maybelle had to drive from Margaree through a blizzard to get to the recording date in Sydney. The normal hour and a half drive took them five hours and when they arrived they had to record almost immediately.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
These two jigs were recorded at Angus' last session (as were the next three tracks) in Sydney in the early fifties. The accompaniment for this session was provided by Angus' niece Maybelle Chisholm (Doyle) on piano and Mickey McIntyre on guitar (all of side one features Bess Sidall MacDonald on piano, and the first two tracks of this side feature Elizabeth Mellett).
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
Angus found Mrs McGee in the almost legendary Sky Collection, a very influential 19th Century compilation. Tea Gardens was composed by Angus as he was waiting for a bus in front of a Chinese place by that name in Sydney; he wrote down enough of it on the bus going home so that he could remember and sort it out later. It is the only one of Angus' compositions which he himself recorded.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
Angus also recorded these tunes at the first session which took place in the middle 1930s. Both tunes are in Coles. During this period of his life, besides devoting much of his energies to music, he also taught school, was a forest warden, and worked for a time in the Arctic.
Topics: Scotland, Fiddle, Cape Breton, 78 RPM
Source: 78
